The Last Shinigami
by FrozenScarlet
Summary: An Ice and Fire Collide omake What would happen when you put "the last samurai" and "bleach" together? Includes characters from my bleach story Ice and Fire Collide. Very, very slight OOC.


Author's note: THIS IS AN OMAKE! I want to let you know that. You see, I was watching The Last Samurai featuring Tom Cruise and I LOVED it. INSPIRATION WAS EVERYWHERE! :D Every single d*nm scene was a huge blast of inspiration confetti! xDDDDD So I just NEEDED to write this amazing omake/parody of Ice and Fire Collide…SAMURAI STYLE! xDDDDDDDDDD Just joking! If you haven't seen the movie, then this is sorta a spoiler. TT^TT But at the same time, I changed a lot of the stuff to make it more original and added various twists. Plus, you may not know the people I'm parody-ing but that's ok also. xDDD Oh, and an asterisk are side notes or censors. xD Once again, let me remind you that I kept a few scenes from the movie, but I changed a lot of things to make it seem more original. :D I hope you guys like it…

Ice and Fire Collide Presents….

The Last Shinigami

Main Cast:

Hikari Kaori ((Parody of Captain Algren))

Toushiro Hitusagaya ((Parody of Katsumoto))

Usagi Akemi ((Parody of Colonel Bagley))

Extra "actors and actresses" include:

Rangiku Matsumoto ((Parody of Simon Graham))

Sosuke Aizen ((Parody of Mr. Omura))

Gin Ichimaru ((Parody of Mr. Omura's assistant))

Rukia Kuchiki ((Parody of Ujio))

Ichigo Kurosaki ((Parody of Nobutada))

Momo Hinamori ((Parody of Taka))

Byakuya Kuchiki ((Parody of the Emperor))

*Other characters will appear as well*

*Quick notes before we begin: Hikari is still a girl, even though she is portraying a guy and that is the same with everyone who is a girl portraying a boy. This is all taken place in SOUL SOCIETY. Seireitei is "Tokyo" and Rukongai is where "the last shinigami" resides in. But I changed the scenery so that it'll have rivers, oceans, and some other land masses and what not. And instead of zanpakutos, you will see them own pistols, rifles, and some other forms of modern weapons while from the "shinigami" side, you'll see katanas and bows/arrows. But NO zanpakutos.*

*Oh, and there is ichiruki stuff in this story. And Rukia's last name in the story is changed to Kurosaki instead of Kuchiki.*

* * *

"Captain Kaori, is something wrong?" I heard a voice calling my name. I slightly opened my eyes. "Rangiku…?"

"Captain Kaori, if I may say, you seem quite….off this afternoon."

I shrugged. "I don't like boats.....Hey, why are we going to Seireitei again?"

"Don't you remember? We're going there to help the Emperor get rid of those shinigamis."

"…..Since when did I agree to such a statement?"

"Ugh, you sound like me when I'm taking my nightly dose of sake. You agreed to that statement from Colonel Akemi."

"Oh…from that son of a b*tch, huh?"

"How many shots did you take?"

"Do you think I remember...?"

"Ugh, you're really useless."

I glared, took out my pistol, and pointed it at her. "Watch your mouth, Rangiku, before I shoot that head off."

Rangiku rolled her eyes and took out two pistols. "I'd like to see you try, Captain."

"Hey! No weapons out on deck!" One of the employees yelled from above. I scoffed and put my pistol away.

"You're lucky he was there."

"Mm, I suppose." She replied as she put her pistols away. A few hours later, we hit land. Rangiku wanted me to dress well since we were going to meet the Emperor, so I wore a blue dress with a small white belt around the waist. Rangiku, as always, wore something that made all the boys look at her with interested looks. She wore black skinny jeans and a white ruffle blouse that showed some cleavage. That's not disturbing at all….not at all….EH! WRONG!

"You said we had to dress well, Rangiku." I whispered as we made our way to the Emperor's palace.

"What? Is this outfit not well? Out of all of my clothes I brought we me, this was the best 'well' I could find."

"Wow…." Was my only response as we continued to walk. People were glancing at us with interest. Their clothes were very peasant like. Those who, I had guessed, rich wore fine and colorful kimonos and had white make-up that covered their faces. I also noticed that there were some men that wore tuxedos and top hats. When we walked passed them, they would slowly take off their hats and bow. Hmph, if they think I'm going actually like any of those geezers then they think wrong.

We arrived at the stairway about 30 minutes later.

"Dear goodness, we have to walk THESE?" Rangiku said with a moan of disgust.

"Oh quit being a pansy." I remarked. "They want to see us, right?"

"Mainly you…"

"Y'know, if that was the case, THEN WHY DID YOU COME WITH ME?"

"Because I knew you were going to cause some disruption…"

"I'm not THAT horrible…"

"Sure you're not."

After that, we began our climb. 200 steps later, we were halfway to the top. Believe me, my legs would have disintegrated a LONG time from now but amazingly, I was able to trudge on. Rangiku..well, she wasn't doing so well.

"I don't CLIMB stairways with high heels!" She complained.

"Then why did you WEAR high heels?" I yelled back.

"Because they looked totally stylish and I haven't worn it in a while so I thought I'd wear it now!"

"You're an idiot!"

"Hey, what about you? You're wearing those boots! How come your not complaining?"

"Because I've been through worse pain."

There was a strange silence and we continued to trudge on through the silence. 200 MORE steps later, we arrived at our destination and man was it worth it! The Emperor's palace was huge….er…more like his walls. It was white with golden dragons on the wall. The arc to the entrance was a golden Shinto arc. The garden was perfectly neat and beautiful. Sakura trees filled the sides of the pathway. Once through the Shinto arc, you would see on your left a small lake. On your right, you would see people taking a walk through the continuation of the garden from outside the gate. Through the wall and gate, the palace itself was very traditional. Sliding doors, pretty roofs, bamboo walkways, etc.

"Wow, it's so beautiful!" Rangiku exclaimed. I shrugged.

"Whatever you say."

"You know you love it."

"……"

Then, I saw Colonel Akemi running towards us. D*nm her.

"Hey, you two made it!" She said with a smile. Mr. Aizen and Emperor Kuchiki want to see you, Captain."

"Shut it. I don't need YOU to tell me."

"Ok, ok…" She murmured as she fell into step with mine. Then, she leaned in a whispered, "Don't you dare screw this up."

"Now why would I screw this wonderful offer of training Emperor Kuchiki's imperial army?"

"Because I know you."

I laughed. "I bet you think you do."

We arrived at the hallway where the Emperor's office would be. Why would I know this? Guards were planted just about everywhere. At the same time, I bet they didn't know how to even hold a pistol when they see one.

When we made it to the office, Akemi slid opened the door. The three of us went on the floor and bowed for about a minute, stood, and walked closer to Emperor Kuchiki with his advisor, Mr. Aizen, standing close to him.

"As Emperor Kuchiki's top advisor, I bid you welcome to Seireitei." Mr. Aizen said with a slight bow. We returned the bow and I turned my attention to the Emperor.

"We have heard many of your expeditions to the world of the living, Captain Kaori." Mr. Aizen started. "And we heard of your amazing victory with the arrancars."

"Hmph, they were nothing." I responded.

"Then would you mind teaching our Imperial Army with the new guns? You see, our enemies are the shinigami. They are nothing but pest to making Soul Society a modern country. So, with the new guns that Colonel Akemi gave from the world of the living, we may be able to defeat those shinigami once and for all."

"So that's it? Train your army, lead 'em, then kill those death gods?"

"Yes ma'am."

"I say…you got yourself a deal."

Mr. Aizen nodded and Emperor Kuchiki stood up from his seat.

"Thank you very much, Captain Kaori." He said. "I expect much from you."

I tried not being impolite and simply nodded. Afterwards, the three of us bowed and walked away.

"Told ya I wouldn't screw up." I said the Akemi. She let out a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, it was like missing a bullet though."

Then I turned to Rangiku. "Oh, and you did know that Mr. Aizen's assistant was watchin' you, right?"

"Oh, that silver head guy?"  
"Exactly."  
"Oh, well, whatever."

The next morning, Rangiku and I arrived at the training area. I scoffed. They were all peasants. Well, this would be a very fun ride indeed.

For 3 days, I tried to get those peasants to be military men. But I saw no increase in skill. My patience soon decreased dramatically when I heard that we were going to attack the shinigami at a railroad construction site.

"They aren't ready." I said to Akemi.

"Of course they're ready. I mean, look at them! They're all ready to go!"

"Oh really?"

I pushed Akemi to the side as I grabbed on person's shoulder.

"I want you to shoot me." I said. The person, I think his name was Iba, turned to look at me with surprise.

"Wh-Wha?"

"You heard me. I want you to shoot me. Wanna know what happens if you don't?" I took out my pistol from my back pocket, loaded it, and pointed it at his direction. "Imma shoot you."

He started to shake with terror. Everyone was now watching.

"Now shoot me!" I yelled. He shook his head and when he did, I fired it, purposely missing but the gunfire surprised him that he jolted.

"Shoot me!" I yelled again. He fumbled to start loading his rifle and as he tried to do so, I continued to fire.

"Hurry up and SHOOT ME!"

At that moment, he was loaded and he fired. It missed me by about 10 feet. There was a deathly silence as I walked towards Akemi.

"They're not ready."

She seemed to think about what had happened but I guess it didn't make a difference.

"Squad leaders, get your squad ready to attack the shinigamis! We're leaving at sunset!"

I sighed when I heard Akemi report that but that's not my concern anymore.

Sunset came faster than I imagined and we were on our way to the railroad site. I had asked some people about the shinigami and apparently, they don't own any guns, rifles, cannons, or any modern weapons. They use swords and bows/arrows. This surprised me greatly. Heh, if that was what I was up against, then this would be easy win even if those peasants can't do anything! I'll be the one to kill them all!

At the arrival at the site, Rangiku grunted.

"I wish we were up against someone who can at least shoot at us from long distance…or have a sniper or something!" She sighed. "Plus, my horse is smelly…."

"At least it'll be an easy win…." I responded with a small laugh. Rangiku smiled and nodded. Akemi arrived on her white horse. I noticed she was holding her silver pistols.

"You have your good luck weapon, huh?" I asked. Akemi laughed.

"Of course, Captain. Why wouldn't I?"

"Hmph, I thought you would chicken out and leave the site."

"Please, I'll die for my troops."

"What a really amazing lie that is, Colonel."

Akemi gave me a look but shook it off. Ignoring me, she turned her attention to the squads.

"Get ready! Those shinigami are going to be here at any moment! Prepare your rifles!" She commanded and they began to load. I, Rangiku, and Akemi got our horses to step back a little bit when we heard footsteps from the distance. No…not footsteps…horse hooves. I saw some peasants shivering with fear. They weren't ready to die, and I could sense it in them thinking that. Suddenly, a silhouette of them was seen.

"Fire at my mark!" I yelled. "Get ready to aim!"

They hesitantly started to aim. In less than a minute later, I saw what these shinigami looked like. They wore different colored armor, something within to color tones blue, black, red, and white. Some also wore masks. At the sight of them coming close, I heard a gunshot from one of the squads. Afterwards, everyone started to fire.

"FIRE AT WILL!" I yelled. I pointed my pistol and began firing. Screams of people dying was heard from every direction and the sight of blood was on every item and person.

After about only two minutes of trying to fight, I heard Akemi yell, "RETREAT! RETREAT!"

I knew she would fly off. She always did. I was about to retreat myself when I was suddenly knocked off my horse. Sh*t…

My pistol flew off my hand so I grabbed on the laying katanas and began to block the attacks. In a flash, everything began to swirl. My sight was getting bad, thus resulting to me flinging my katana at random directions. I felt a slash come through my back and I fell to my knees. Not wanting to give up, I got up and when I saw someone attack, I quickly grabbed them and threw them behind me. But it wasn't enough. I was impaired in only 3 moves and I was on the ground, taking deep breaths. I saw a shinigami, a girl shinigami to be more exact, point her blade to my chest. But before she could end my life, I heard a "stop!"

I slowly turned my head and saw another shinigami, but in white armor, walk towards the female shinigami.

"Don't finish her." He said.

"What? But my Lord-"

"She will be our captive."

I could tell she was having a hard time not to retort back but in the end, she bowed and told some shinigami to drag me away. As they did so, I felt myself feeling faint. Besides, I needed to take a nap after all of that….

I woke up in a dark room. My wounds were being healed by a young woman. When she noticed that I was waking up, she stood and walked out of the door. I slowly sat up and took a look around. The room was very old fashion: tattami mats, sliding doors, cushions as chairs, futons, etc. I was still wearing my navy blue military uniform. No wonder my back hurts like heck. At that moment, I realized what had happened…memories flashed in my head from the battle with those shinigamis. I winced when I saw myself fall to the ground and get impaired so fast…I felt so weak…

Suddenly, the door opened again and an orange haired person came inside.

"I see that you're awake." He said. I grunted as a response. He let out a small chuckle. "You wanna see our leader?"

I shifted my eyes to look at him. "You know I'm going to kill him."

At this he smirked. "With what? Your pistols were taken away."

I slowly stood and glared. "You forgot one weapon that every human has…and that's our fist."

He shrugged it off. "Well, whenever you want to get out, you can. By let me warn you…there's no escape. We're hitting our winter season soon and all paths are blocked off. Besides, even if you did try to escape, someone's going to kill you."

"In other words, I'm your prisoner?"

"Mm, not mine. My leader."

"Don't smart-alec me."

"Whatever."

He turned around and left, closing the door behind him. I leaned by the door when I heard mumbling from outside.

"Ichigo, I don't like this girl. Can't you talk to my brother to see if she can go live in the streets or at least" A feminine voice said.

"What? Don't tell me you're…jealous." A more manly voice, probably the orange haired guy…I think it was Ichigo, replied.

"Why would I be jealous of someone so disgusting? Besides, you wouldn't want to seen with her in front of your wife."

"You mean Rukia? Nah, she wouldn't mind."

"Y'know she was the one that was about to kill her."

"It was her duty at first to kill her. Then Hitsugaya changed it."

I heard the girl sigh. "Whatever."

After I heard them leave, I began to think of what I heard. So, the guy's name that came in is called Ichigo…The shinigami girl that was about to kill me is named Rukia and is the wife of Ichigo…their leader is named Hitsugaya and he has a sister that is taking care of me. Also, I'm apparently "disgusting" to the sister. Well then…

The next day, I decided to go ahead and leave my room. As I searched the area, it seemed that nobody was home. It was a generally big house; it was one story, very old fashioned, and as I continued to search, there was a room with two pieces of armor. One of them was white and red while the other was completely white. Why did that armor seem so familiar to me?

I left the house and I noticed that there was a shinigami waiting outside the house.

"I guess you're the person who's going to kill me if I leave." I said. She didn't say anything as a response to it, so I shrugged it off. As I started to walk, the shinigami followed. Ok, maybe she is the person that will kill me if I leave the area.

As I walked, I took notice of the villagers. Unlike Seireitei, this area was very neat and simple. Their homes were traditional; it didn't matter whether they were poor or not. Some kids were playing in the dirt road; the elders were playing board games; some women were cleaning the outside of their home. As I continued to walk, I saw a group of people, probably shinigami, training with wooden swords. Strangely enough, they didn't have any protection from the blows on the swords. I could tell it hurt, yet when they were hit, they didn't wince or fall. They just continued on until someone said stop and they changed partners. Now that was one section; another section had another group of shinigami holding bows and arrows. Targets were located in different distances, some was 10 feet, and others were 10 yards. I noticed that Ichigo guy in that group. I would have gone up to him but I noticed that he wouldn't have noticed my presence anyways. His face showed extreme concentration and I noticed that he was going for 20 yards. I stopped before I walked up to him and watched. There was silence around him and after about a minute of it, he let go of the arrow.

"It's not going to make it." I thought but my thought was wrong. The arrow hit bulls-eye and the crowd that watched cheered. Ichigo smiled and replied to the compliments. I smiled, stood up, and walked away.

After a few minutes, Ichigo stopped me.

"Hey." He said. I shrugged.

"What's up?"

"Good. You saw my bow and arrow show?"

"Yeah. You did…good."

"Thanks. Hey, you need to go see our leader."

"Sure…if I know WHERE he is."

"Oh, I thought Nemu would show you."

"Nemu?"

He pointed the shinigami behind me, the one who kept on following me. I shook my head and Ichigo sighed.

"Nemu, I told you to show her the place."

"I must not have heard you, Kurosaki." She replied, actually speaking for the first time I met her. Ichigo glared.

"Or maybe you're just deaf!"

Nemu shrugged and started walking ahead. Ichigo rolled her eyes and looked at me. "I suggest you follow her. She'll take you to our Leader's home."  
"Wait…he doesn't live with his sister?"

Ichigo's eyes widened for a second but went away at the same time it came. "No, they don't."

Then, he did a slight bow and walked away. That was another thing I noticed on my first time out here. They were very respectful, smiled, and cheerful. At the same time, every villager, shinigami or not, have some sort of vibe of power and strength.

After a few minutes, I arrived at the place where the leader lived. Like the rest of the homes, the place was very tradition but it was wider. There was even a garden at the front of the house. I saw two small, garden statues that looked like dragons in front of the entrance.

"Wow…." I murmured. Nemu took off her shoes, placed it to the side, and walked inside. I followed her actions and went inside. I noticed that she stopped by a sliding door.

"He is inside." She said and pointed to the room. I nodded and opened the door. Inside, I saw a young boy with white hair looking outside. He was sitting on a cushion and writing something on a low table.

"Looks like you finally came." He said.

"Yeah…"

I looked around. It was a simple room and the wall that the boy was facing was gone and the outside was shown. You could see a beautiful garden.

"What's your name?" He asked. I cocked an eyebrow

"Why do you wanna know?" I replied sharply. The boy shrugged.

"I'm guessing you citizens in Seireitei don't like introductions. Since you're going to be here for many weeks, I need to at least know your name…I need to know my enemy."

"No, look kid! I'm not stayin' in this place! I got friends back home-"

"And how do you expect to GET home?" He stood up and turned to face me. "And I'm not a kid. I'm 25 years old…I just have a…height issue." Then he sighed. "My name is Toushiro Hitsugaya."

I crossed my arms and looked away. "Hikari Kaori, age 22."

"You seem a bit young to be in the army."

"You seem a bit young to be leading a villiage of shinigamis."

"Touché."

He looked at me for a while and after a minute, he walked away. I started to follow him but Nemu blocked my path.

"Lord Hitsugaya is busy with other things. It is best not to disturb him."

"How the h*ll do you know?"

She gave me a look as if saying "Do you want to try me?" and I stopped asking.

Once I left the area, I found myself generally bored. So, I wandered across this village and explored their forest outside the gates.

That night, I returned to the house that I woke up in. The girl that healed me was inside, already cooking food. She saw me come inside and she greeted me with a small smile.

"Good evening." She said. "Are you hungry?"

I nodded and sat down. "Actually…yes…I am."

"Two other people will be arriving here. Just take a seat." She held her hand out to the cushion in front of her. I returned her small smile with my own and took a seat. In less than 2 minutes later, I saw Ichigo and that shinigami girl…I guess those two were together.

"I didn't know _she_ was here." The shinigami girl said with a hint of disgust.

"It's ok, Rukia." Ichigo and Rukia took the seat on the other two sides. *the table is a square, if you think of it like a compass, north and south is seated by Hikari and Momo. The east and west is seated by Ichigo and Rukia*

We exchanged glances and then we ate. It was a very silent dinner and I realized that Hitsugaya wasn't around but I felt that it wasn't my place to ask.

After dinner, Rukia and Ichigo left and I returned to my room. A few hours later, I heard people talking from outside so I slightly opened the door to see what was going on. Outside, I saw Hinamori talking to Hitsugaya.

"How are you, brother?" Hinamori asked.

"It's been alright. Kurosaki Ichigo told me about what you said. What is wrong with her?"

"It feels wrong to be keeping a prisoner, especially an enemy, in my house. Why can't we put her where she belongs: in the prison."

"I know you may not like it, but this is for the best."

Hinamori looked down but I heard Hitsugaya sigh and put his hand on her shoulder.

"If she tries to hurt you, then I'll be there to protect you, ok?"

Something in what he said made her face brightened, but just a little.

"Thank you, brother."

Hitsugaya then turned and left the house.

The next day, I walked outside and saw that everyone was already awake. I had estimated that it was 9 am and yet it seemed that they've been awake since 5 am. Suddenly, a little kid accidently bumped into me.

"I-I'm sorry!" She said. I turned around and smiled.

"It's ok, kid."

She had light brown hair, wore a brown kimono, and had a peach clip on her hair. Then I saw another girl, around the same height as the girl that bumped into me, run towards us.

"Yuzu, what are you doing? Where's the ball?" She asked. The girl had black hair, wore a red kimono, and her hair was in a bun with a flower to clip it together.

"Sorry Karin-san." Yuzu said and ran to her. Karin looked at me.

"You're the lady that's staying at Hinamori-san's place."

I blinked with surprise. "Wait, you live with…uh…Hinamori?"

Yuzu was the first to respond, "Yes. You just didn't see us yesterday because we were staying at Inoue-san's place."

"Ino…ue?"

Yuzu nodded. "She's one of the village doctors. We were over there to help her and since it was already late, she let us stay with her."

"But Hinamori-san already told us about you staying at her place." Karin added.

"Karin, Yuzu, come inside. Play time is over!" I heard Hinamori say from the other side of the house.

"Great…now we have to work on the vegetable garden." I heard Karin mumble with distain. Yuzu giggled.

"I can't wait!"

The two walked off and I noticed that Hinamori was watching me as they came to her. Well what's her problem?

As I walked through the dirt pathway, I saw the shinigamis training in the fields. They were in groups; one was training with wooden swords, one was training with hand-to-hand combat, and one was training with archery.

"The groups you see, Kaori-san," Nemu started. "Are the specialized groups. But all of us are fully rounded with each skill."

I knelt down to watch the groups. The Rukia girl was with the group that held the wooden swords.

"hajimeru! *begin*" She yelled to the group and they swung their swords at each other. Rukia turned and when she saw me, she frowned. "What are you doing here?"

I cocked my head and stood up. "What? Is it a probably for me to be here?"

"As you can see, we are training."

"It seems like I'm in a good distance. You just have good sight."

"I will take that last part as a compliment. But either way, why don't you watch the other groups."

"Well…what if I say…" I walked over and picked up a spare wooden sword. "That I wanna try?"

Rukia let out a laugh. "No offense, but…this is only for expert sword fighters."

"But what if I want to be an expert?"

Rukia's smile disappeared and she glared at me. In an instance, she pointed her wooden sword towards me.

"So be it. But I warned you."

"Bring it, shinigami."

I saw fire in her eyes. "hajimeru!"

My eyes widened as she lunged towards me. I blocked it with my sword, but the pressure against my sword was too great and Rukia's wooden blade ended up hitting my shoulder. I winced at the hardness of the hit and stumbled back.

"Pointo *point*" Rukia murmured. At that moment, Ichigo appeared behind Rukia.

"What's going on? I was wondering what the commotion was over here."

Rukia grunted. "Nothing. I was simply showing this girl that she doesn't need to be here."

Ichigo sighed. "Rukia, isn't that pretty cruel?"

"Shut up, Ichigo."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Well, is it fine if I can see it again?"

Rukia turned to look at him. "What?"

I grinned and pointed the wooden blade at Rukia. "Bring it on."

She glared again, pointed her blade at me, and took a stance. A quiet silence filled the air and suddenly, I heard Ichigo say, "hajimeru!"

Rukia and I lunged at each other. We clashed twice until she hit my left arm in a flash. Cheers filled the silence and Rukia smirked.

"I told you…this is only for the expert of the swords." Then she turned around. "What are you guys doing? Get back with your partner and prepare for another round! Quickly!"

Ichigo gave a small smile to me and walked back to his group. At that moment, I heard a laugh from behind me.

"Did you see that, Soifon?" I heard a woman say. "That's one reason why Rukia Kurosaki is Lord Hitsugaya's best and the only female who is the master of the sword!"

I turned around. A tan, purple haired woman was standing on a hill, talking with the woman that was braided shoulder length. Unlike the other women, including Rukia, they didn't wear kimonos. Rukia wore a kimono, but it was up to her knees and it was "flowy" so that it allowed her to move around quickly. But the two women I saw wore what I had guessed was their training uniform: a black shihakusho *look it up if you have to*. Of course, these women seemed to have personalized it since it was sleeveless and later, I realized it was also back-less. They also wore long black wrist guards. I guess the only way to actual be more of an individual was that the woman in tan was wearing a red collar around her neck and the paler one had a yellow sash around the uniform.

The tan woman smirked and ran down to meet me. "So you're the girl from Seireitei, eh?"

I nodded slowly. The paler one, I think her name was Soifon, arrived shortly after the statement.

"My name is Yoruichi Shihoin." The tan one said. Soifon turned to look at her.

"Yoruichi-sama…what are you-"She started but was interrupted by Yoruichi.

"And this is my apprentice, Soifon."

Soifon, still shocked, slowly turns her head to face me and slightly bows her head. I return the bow.

"Um…and I'm guessing you two are…shinigamis?"

Yoruichi laughed. "Of course. We are the leaders of the hand-to-hand combat force."

"But we are also the head of the Punishment force here in the village." Soifon added which sent shivers down my spine. Yoruichi sighed.

"We won't kill you unless we're ordered to kill you. Maybe that'll keep you from losing your confidence around these people. Of course, there really isn't anything to be afraid of except for Lord Hitsugaya."

"Yoruichi-sama, we should return back to the group." Soifon said. Yoruichi moaned.

"What for? They're practicing, aren't they? Besides, why don't you go and check on them. I'll be back in a minute. Is it wrong to introduce myself to the newbie?"

"Prisoner, you mean." Soifon "corrected." Yoruichi shrugged and Soifon left. After Yoruichi was sure her apprentice was gone, she turned to face me.

"You know, you should practice with the sword more often. Especially if you're trying to pick a fight with Rukia. She's not someone you don't want to mess with unless you really know what you're doing."

"I could see that but….if I may ask…you seem, well, a lot older than Rukia and though I haven't seen you in training or anything…for someone to respect you that way…how come you're not, uh, Lord Hitsugaya's right hand?"

"Well, I would be, but I dropped out."

"Wha?" I was surprised to hear that. Who the heck would drop out on an opportunity like that? It's like…being the new vice-president of a country! Yoruichi scratched her head.

"Yeah, I felt it wasn't going to be all that fun if I joined. Besides, Kurosaki seemed to have less things in mind and she was strong as well so I chose her to take my place as right hand and Lord Hitsugaya allowed it. But honestly, each leader of each group is technically the 'right-hand man' for him. He's just the one who gives us the orders. Kurosaki helps with the orders too. So, it works out just fine. But if Kurosaki does need a hand, I'll give it to her. That's what I've been doing for years." She laughed. "She's still young."

I heard Soifon call Yoruichi's name from over the hill and soon, she bid me farewell and left. She was a nice person. Maybe I should talk to her another time.

Since it was early afternoon, I decided to go and take a visit to "Lord Hitsugaya" or for me, Hitsugaya, and see how he was doing. This time, Nemu didn't lead the way or anything. She just stood outside the door as always. I put my shoes to the side and walked in. He was reading something when I entered but closed it when he saw me come in.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"I was bored."

"I heard you got you're a** beat by Kurosaki."

"The girl?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, the girl."

"Oh..then yeah. I did. So?"

A very small laugh passed his lips for a second and went away as fast as it came. "Interesting."

"What? You got something to say, Mr. Hitsugaya?"

"No, not at all. Is it wrong for me to hear something that perks my interest and I can't say it out loud?"

"Well, no but still." I crossed my arms. "What's up with you and your sister, Hinamori?"

He stayed silent. My patience grew thin when I didn't get a reply after a minute of silence.

"Answer my question, kid!"

"I began the leader of the village, that's what." He replied sharply. Something in his voice was cold and scary. I didn't question further and decided to change the topic.

"It's amazing, you shinigami, I've been here for maybe 2 days during my awaken state and yet there are some who converse with me. Ichigo, being one, and Yoruichi. Rukia has some sort of issue with me and I'm not sure about Hinamori. She's been nice ever since I've woken up, but at the same time, I could feel she is being wary around me."

"As a shinigami, we have virtues that must be followed, whether we are talking with an enemy, or a friend."

"Does that count in the punishment force thing?"

"How did you-"

"I think her name was soifon."

Hitsugaya nodded and continued, "Yes. It does count. Well, it may be slightly harder for them to keep some of them, but they still try to follow the virtues."

"What are the shinigami virtues or whatever?"

"You'll figure it out, Kaori."

I sighed and decided to stubbornly accept the answer.

"Want to walk around? You must be bored." I said. "Kids like you need to take a walk."

For the first time, I saw this leader lose his temper. "I'm not a kid!"

"Ha! You're like….5'! Don't think your age is gonna make a difference!"

"What?" Then, something must have struck him and returned to his cool demure. "Then I can call you a kid then."

Well, didn't he strike a nerve.

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah. You may be slightly taller, but if you think about it, you're only a few inches shorter than Mrs. Kurosaki."

I felt another nerve being striked.

"Ok, look, I'm going to attack you if you don't shut up."

"Why don't you try?"

I glared at him and ran up to him. I was about to throw a punch but the next moves he did was so fast, I couldn't catch myself. He had stood up, grabbed the wrist where my fist was with his left hand, then grabbed my upper arm with his right, and threw me in an instance. I groaned with pain.

"That…hurt…my back…."

Hitsugaya scoffed. "I'm the leader of this village. Of course I have to know how to protect myself. Yet, you're a captain of the military and you don't know how to protect yourself."

"Hey! I had pistols to protect myself!"

"And if you didn't? You're just going to die?"

I stayed silent at the statement. He was right…without my normal weapons I would be useless in the field. Giving in, I sighed.

"You have a point, I suppose…."

He didn't reply and started to go to the door.

"It wouldn't hurt you much if you go and practice with the rest of the shinigami. Luckily for you, you're already acquaintances with Mr. Kurosaki and Ms. Yoruichi. Secondly, they're both squad leaders of a specific master group. Of course, everyone is well rounded…but if you want to go and watch first, that's ok too."

"What about Rukia, er, I mean Mrs. Kusosaki."

He shrugged and walked out. Well then….

After leaving Hitsugaya's home, I returned to the fields. I had guessed it was late afternoon, maybe 4 or 5, and they were still at it. Since 5 am to now, they were still training. Beads of sweat dropped from their foreheads.

I walked to where the hand-to-hand combat experts were. When I arrived, I began to examine their tactics. As I watched, I could tell that speed was an amazing factor. If you were too slow, you were hit in an instance. It was better to think fast as well from what I could tell. At the same time, you needed to have a strong defense and offense. If you had a strong durability, then you could withstand some of the hits and if you have a strong offense, then you could break your opponent's defense.

I saw Yoruichi yell something in a distance.

"Alright! Everyone take 5! Afterwards, we're training for one more hour and then you can go home!"

"Yes ma'am!" Everyone replied. Some just lied there on the grass, some started randomly talking to each other, and some got a drink of water. When Yoruichi turned to see me, her fierce exterior changed to bright and warming. Though, I couldn't help but think that there was still a fierce passion inside.

"Hey, it's you!" She yelled and walked over to where I was. "You know, I never asked your name."

"Oh. Um, my name is Hikari Kaori."

"Well, glad to meet ya, Hikari."

"Um, you're welcome, Ms. Yoruichi."

"Don't worry, kid. You don't have to be formal around me."

When she called me 'kid', I remembered Hitsugaya. I laughed mentally inside.

"Well, ok. So I can just call you Yoruichi?"

"Sure. So, whatcha doin' here?"

"Well, I was thinking of trying out some sort of defense thing and since all of you are well-rounded, I was thinking you may help me…but since you're a squad leader and you're busy all day-"

"What? You think I have stuff to do during the evenings?"

Suddenly, I saw Soifon appear beside Yoruichi.

"Yoruichi-sama, if I may interrupt, but you are training me in the evenings." Something at the end had an edge to it, something that says 'Stay away from her, She's mine' kind of vibe.

"And?" Yoruichi replied. "Hikari and you can both be trained. It's not much of an issue."

"But Yoruichi-sama, if you're training her about the sword, archery, and hand-to-hand combat, then-"

"Well, that just means I'm giving extra time on the newbie. I did that with you when you became my apprentice. Go and think about that, Soifon."

Soifon took a deep breath, as if about to retort, but then let it out after a moment of thinking.

"Yes ma'am." She murmured quietly.

"Now that's settled, we need to return to practice." Yoruichi said. "If you want to watch, then go ahead. But you should also check out Kurosaki Ichigo's group. Their challenge is getting a bulls-eye from 20 yards."

"So this time it's everyone, not just Ichigo?"

Yoruichi nodded. "And go and check out Kurosaki Rukia's group. She's challenging her group to finish off their partner in only 2 moves."

"2?"

"Exactly." Yoruichi heard her name being called from the distance. "Well, I better get going. See you, Hikari." She turned and ran towards Soifon. I sighed, turned, and walked to watch Ichigo's group first. They were already off their break and they were preparing their arrows. 20 yards didn't seem like a lot, honestly, but to get a perfect bulls-eye from 20 yards did seem slightly difficult. Then again, Ichigo was able to do it.

"Alright guys, lets' see what you got." Ichigo yelled. The first 3 people got their arrows and took their aim. A slight gust of wind came through the hills. Every archer had to not only aim, but their factor was the wind and they had to re-calculate their aim. There was a quiet silence for about a minute and in a split second; I saw 3 arrows being flown to the target. I heard them hit their target, but the question was did it hit bulls-eye…Ichigo walked to the targets and shook his head.

"Try again. You missed the bulls-eye by a few inches…." He then let out a frustrated sigh and pointed to the bulls-eye. "If this was the heart and you missed, then they would run up to you and kill you at the moment!"

The 3 men got their arrows again, aimed, and let it go. There was a brief silence between the 3 men until they saw Ichigo give thumbs up. They let out a sigh of relief, walked off, and the next 3 came to the front. I smiled, stood up, and walked off. Guess they just needed a little motivation.

I arrived at the sword mastering area and it looked like they didn't have a break since lunch. They lunged towards each other, owning a fiery intensity in each strike.

"Again!" Rukia yelled. "Don't you dare sit down! The opponent will strike at you if he sees you being tired! H*ll, he will slice your body in half! Do you want that? DO YOU WANT THAT?"

"NO MA'AM!" They yelled in return and continued fighting.

I shivered. She is one scary woman….Then I noticed one person fall to one knee, gasping for some air when I saw Rukia walk towards him.

"What are you doing?" She pointed her wooden blade at him. "If I was your enemy, I would easily do this…" Then, she slowly moved her arm across the person's neck. "Now get up and fight."

He slowly got up, nodded, and dashed towards his partner. I am so glad she's not teaching me.

That night, I returned to Hinamori's house to eat dinner. When I opened the door, Karin and Yuzu were already asleep.

"They worked so hard today that they fell asleep once nightfall came." Hinamori whispered. I smiled.

"That's sweet….Would you like me to help you with dinner?"

"Oh, that's ok. I can do it on my own."

I nodded and once Hinamori was off making dinner, I went inside Yuzu and Karin's room. It was like the other bedrooms but there were more flowers and dolls inside this one. I noticed that there was a diary on the table and though it was rude, I felt curious. Quickly, I grabbed the book and flipped to a random page.

_Dear Diary,_

_Karin and I went to visit Lord Hitsugaya today. He's always thinking deeply about things or he's always busy with paperwork. I don't understand it. Karin says he just wants to act cool and be a strong figure-head. I think that there is something more than just that. I think he's really thinking about something important._

_Lord Hitsugaya is teaching us the basics of the sword. It was really heavy at first but I was able to get it. I think its scary holding a sword. Karin thinks it's cool…I wish I was stronger._

_Yuzu_

I flipped to another page.

_Dear Diary,_

_Ichigo and Rukia are getting married! I find that so cute! Not many people know this, but Rukia's last name is the same as Emperor Kuchiki's but they aren't related or family. I asked Rukia-san about it before they got married but she just smiled at me and continued walking. I hope I didn't upset her. Well, she gave me candy the next day so maybe she's not mad…_

_But I'm glad for Ichigo-san. He has been nice to me and Karin ever since we arrived to this village as orphans. We get to go to their wedding tomorrow. How exciting. Lord Hitsugaya's right hand man getting married to his, er, left hand man I suppose! Ichigo and Rukia is Lord Hitsugaya's most trusted suburbanite._

_Yuzu_

After reading, I put the diary back on the table. It was interesting reading about those two days. I'm surprised that Rukia sounds kind and more like an angel instead of a horrifying demon.

When I heard Hinamori's footsteps, I quietly stepped out of the room and closed the door.

Once at the dinner table, I asked her if Ichigo and Rukia were coming. She shook her head and had said that they were going to visit Lord Hitsugaya. I wonder if this was her nights most of the time…

After a peaceful dinner, I thanked her and said that I was going to be with Yoruichi for the rest of the evening. Hinamori nodded and I quickly left the house. I felt bad leaving her, since she was probably alone and I was her only company but still…I had to know how to wield a sword.

Nemu was still awake when I had left the house so I asked her if she knew where Yoruichi's house was. She nodded and led me to the house quickly. Geez, she doesn't have to be fast or anything. We arrived at a house that looked similar to Hinamori's house except this one had yellow and purple chandeliers coming from the roof edges. Also, there was a gate around the compound of the house. One of the sides said "Goddess of Flash" and the other said "Yoruichi Shihoin."

"Goddess of Flash?" I whispered.

"Yoruichi is the fastest shinigami alive, faster than Lord Hitsugaya. Her speed is amazing and that makes her one of the greatest hand-to-hand combater in all of Rukongai and even Soul Society." Nemu responded as she knocked on the gate. In a brief moment, a young man with a green and white stripped hat and clogs opened the gate.

"Ah, Nemu! Why are you here so late at night?" He asked.

"It's not for me, Urahara. It is for her."

He turned to look at me. "Well, you must be that prisoner girl from Seireitei! It's nice to meet you! My name is Kisuke Urahara!"

I gave an awkward smile. "My name is Hikari Kaori…"

"Beautiful name. I guess you're here for Yoruichi?"

I nodded and he opened the door. "Well come on in. She's right now training Soifon but I'm sure she'll fit you in somehow."

Once I arrived to the backyard, I saw two figures fighting in the distance.

"Have fun." Urahara whispered and walked away. After the two figures stopped fighting, one of them turned and waved her hand.

"Hey! Hikari, right? C'mon over here!" I heard Yoruichi yell through the distance. I walked over there and wasn't surprised to notice that Soifon was glaring at me. Obsessive much…

"Alrighty then, what do you want to learn first?" She asked. I pondered that question for a moment then said,

"Sword please."

Yoruichi nodded, grabbed two wooden swords from the side next to, and then threw one to me. I quickly caught it.

"Alright, first things first….you have GOT to fix that stance of yours and you have GOT to learn how to hold a sword correctly."

She walked over to me. "First, hold the sword like so." After fixing my grip, she continued. "Now, your stance needs to be strong and apparently, your stance doesn't show that."

She bent down and moved me feet. Afterwards, she stood and pointed her wooden blade at me.

"Ok, next, lets' see what you got. Oh, and Soifon, go and get us some herbal tea."

Soifon nodded and walked inside. Once she was gone, Yoruichi lunged towards me, forcing me to step back and block it. She smirked, shifted her footing, and moved her sword in a manner that forced my sword out of my hand. The wooden blade twirled in the sky and landed feet away from me. Suddenly, Yoruichi kicked my feet, I dropped to the ground, and at that moment, Yoruichi stood next to me with her wooden blade at my neck.

"Well, at least you could block my first attack." She said with a shrug and helped me up. "Lets' keep practicing, shall we?"

We sparred for about 3 hours until Yoruichi said it was enough for tonight.

"You just need to keep on practicing. Maybe in the mornings, you can practice. Oh, and by the way, your outfit is pretty weird and dirty. You should change at one point."

I made a face but dismissed it and bowed. "Thank you for training me."

"Of course. As long as you come by tomorrow." Then she walked inside.

The next morning, I decided to change my Seireitei outfit. Since the day I arrived, a red kimono with a white sash was set beside my bed yet I never really paid much attention to it. After taking what Yoruchi said into consideration, I took the outfit and tried it on. It was really pretty, and I found out that it was very loose at the bottom. It was perfect because I needed it loose to practice with. Then, I found a mirror and put my hair into something neat and well-kept. Then I walked outside and went to visit the training fields. Of course, the shinigami were already out there, training their souls out. When I stepped foot to the sword training field, Rukia turned as if she sensed me and walked towards me.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, swinging the wooden blade to her shoulder.

"What else? I'm here to practice." I responded, taking a wooden blade from the holder. "Don't worry; I'm not going to distract you."

Rukia gave me a look then turned and walked away. "What are you guys looking at? Get back to training!"  
"Yes ma'am!" They yelled and started sparring again. I watched them for a small while then started practicing myself. I did a quick left eye cut, took a step and did a right eye cut, took another step again and stabbed through the middle. I shifted my stance and swung the blade through the shoulder. After doing these moves a few more times, I stopped. Rukia had been watching and once I stopped, she walked towards me.

"Interesting moves, Kaori." She said. "Would you like to try that on an actual opponent?"

I eyed her curiously. She probably just going to embarrass me since she'll just whoop my a**.

"Um, I don't know…"

"C'mon, Kaori. You have caught my interest. Oh wait, maybe you can't fight because you're chicken. You can't fight me because I kicked you're a** the last time and you have too much pride to lose!"

I twitched and pointed my wooden blade at her. "Bring it on!"

I lunged towards her and we clashed. The sound rang through the training field as everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to watch us, again. Just great….

We clashed several times, leaving no opening for her to hit me.

"Your defense may be good…" Rukia commented. Suddenly, she shifted her weight and I was bent back by the overwhelming weight increase. "But my offense is better."

She had applied so much pressure to her blade that I was forced to jump back before she could hit my chest. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make a good footing afterwards because once I jumped back, Rukia recovered quickly and lunged towards me. Her attacks became more rapid and it became difficult to deflect the strikes. After 3 more moves, she hit my shoulder blade.

"Pointo." She said and raised her wooden sword in the air. Cheers roared through the mini audience until Rukia put her sword to her side. "Now get back to sparring, everyone!"

After they left, she walked up to me and held her hand out. "Good job. I'm surprised you could deflect some of my attacks. You just need to practice more….Kaori."

"Um, thanks….Rukia."

She simply scoffed and walked away. "Fix your stance! Keep your eyes on your opponent! Hold that sword properly!"

I smiled but then rubbed my shoulder after I felt an aftershock of the strike. I looked down and noticed my kimono was dirty. I sighed.

"It was brand new too…" I thought and put the wooden sword back in its holder. Afterwards, I decided to visit the Hot Springs that I heard Hinamori talk about with the other females one day. It was away from the "main village" and entering the more farmer areas, having rice fields, vegetable fields, and other gardens.

"Rukongai is pretty big." I said.

"The main village is the place you were staying at. It is surrounded by fields for training, rice fields, and other vegetable gardens or fruit gardens. Farmers live in those small homes that are close to the fields. Of course, as you can see in the distance, the main gate is there. It may seem weak, but really, it's made of the same material as the Seireitei gate is made of."

"Wow, that's the most you've said since I've come to know you."

She nodded and continued to walk behind me.

I arrived at the Hot Springs a few minutes later. It was called "Sakura Biyori Springs." I couldn't help but notice that there was a clinic beside it. I pointed to the clinic and turned to look at Nemu. She sighed and started to explain.

"This clinic is located here because most of the time, he lets patients go the Hot Springs to relax and whatnot. We have two clinics, by the way. This clinic here is run by Mr. Isshin Kurosaki."

"Kurosaki?"

"Yes. In other words, Ichigo's father and Rukia's father-in-law."

I blinked with surprise. Well….that's…..

"Anyways," Nemu continued. "The other clinic is run by Mr. Ryuken Ishida. There is also this one female doctor, her name is Orihime Inoue, and she goes to both clinics. It's pretty much if she is called for, then she goes to that clinic. There are times where she is even called to Seireitei for her services."

"She must be really good."

"People call her a miracle worker."

"Hmph, miracles, huh?"

I walked inside, took off my kimono, and walked outside to hit the waters. When I arrived, I noticed that no one was there.

"Hey….no one's here."

"That's because everyone is at practice." Nemu responded.

"Well, at least I can have a little alone time…" I thought to myself and slipped into the warm water. As I relaxed, I began to think of some things. I was wondering if Rangiku was ok or if Akemi was doing something totally stupid…I also began to think about the shinigami. I was told they were savages, destroying and killing everything in its path. Yet, when I see these people now, they aren't savages. They are kind people but with a fiery heart. They believe in what they put their hearts into and put 110% of effort into it. They follow virtues and are well-mannered. I began to wonder who the REAL enemy was.

After about 30 minutes, I got out, dried myself, and put on my dirty kimono.

"Great…Hinamori is going to be PO-ed when she sees this." I mumbled as I walked out of the Hot Springs. Hm, I should see if I can find a new one to replace this dirty one…

Once I arrived at the main village, I remembered that I haven't visited Hitsugaya. I looked down at my kimono. There is no way in h*ll that I'm going to show up with THIS…..Wait….since when did I even CARE about the way I dress in front of a midget? Well, then again, he is a Lord and all…but still! He's a short kid! I shouldn't care about all that but why do I?

I went to Hinamori's place and found her in her small garden.

"Um….Hinamori?" I asked as I walked into her garden. She turned and stood up, giving me a kind smile.

"Is something wrong, Kaori?"

"Oh, well…my kimono is dirty and I was wondering…if you have another one. If you don't, that's ok! I was just wondering…"

Hinamori's smile widened as she wiped the dirt of her kimono. "I have plenty you can try on."

I followed her into her room and she handed me a couple of other kimonos, each having different shades of colors.

"By the way, there is a play a few nights from now. Would you like to watch it with the rest of us?" She asked.

"I haven't watched a play for so long….um….sure."

"It may be hard for you to understand it, but I'm sure you'll get it."

When she left, I went to my room to change. Strangely enough, I held up both kimonos. One was a pretty shade of sky blue with pink petals on it and the other was a shade of ivory green that had light brown swirl patterns. I decided to go with the ivory green one since I knew by the end of the day; I would get it dirty once again.

After changing, I walked to Hitsugaya's place. At arrival, I noticed that he was outside, reading a small book that looked vaguely familiar…He must have heard my footsteps because he closed the book he was reading and stood up.

"I heard you were practicing with Yoruichi-san." He said. I cocked my head at him.

"Well, it was only last night…"

"I assume you're going to keep practicing with her every night?"

"Hmph, yeah. I need to know how to defend myself."

"I see. Want to take a walk?" He held his hand towards me. I blinked for a minute.

"Uh….."  
"If you don't want to take my act of kindness, then you don't have to." He was about to put his hand back into his pockets but something made me take his hand before he could do so. There was an awkward silence after that. We looked away for a brief moment but then I felt myself being pulled.

"C'mon, you said kids should walk. Well, it's obvious that you need to take a walk."

"Ahem, I was referring to YOU."

He didn't look at me after that statement but he didn't make a comeback. As we walked, I used that time to ask him questions. Of course, I was thoughtful enough to not ask him personal questions. Instead, I asked him things more about the Shinigami ways and the history behind Seireitei and Rukongai. During the walk, I found myself more open and I realized that Hitsugaya was more cool-headed then I thought. I knew he was cool-headed, but now I had more reason as to why he was. He was patient with my questions and he always put his hands in his pockets. All he needed was some pimpin' glasses and he would look seriously cool.

At the same time, I talked to him about my battles and about Seireitei. I also talked to him about my mini adventure with the other shinigami and there were times that he would smirk at my stupidity.

We spent so much time talking that I noticed that the lanterns began to light up the outside hallways.

"Oh crap! I need to visit Yoruichi!" I said.

"Don't worry; she doesn't really do much at home. She doesn't get mad if you're late or anything."

I shrugged. "I don't care."

As I grabbed my shoes, I waved goodbye and ran down the pathway to Yoruichi's house. A few minutes later, I arrived and knocked on her gate. While I waited, I took the moment to take a breath after running about 10 yards to reach her house. Then, the gate opened and saw the same guy from last time.

"Hey….uh….." I tried to remember his name. "Oh yeah! Kisuke Urahara!"

"Well that took a while to remember! Is my name that hard to remember then Yoruichi Shihoin?"

"Well…no…but I mean, I don't see you very often…."

"What? You didn't see Yoruichi that often and-"

"Look, you sound like a jealous housewife." I said, putting my hand up to gesture Shut Up. "Can you just tell me where Yoruichi is?"

"Same place as last time." He tipped his hand to cover his eyes even more and walked inside, whistling an interesting tune. Ignoring it, I walked to the backyard and saw Yoruichi kicking a wooden dummy. What was more interesting is that she was barefooted as she did so and from what I could see, she was doing some serious damage to that dummy. She stopped kicking suddenly and waved towards me.

"Hikari! Get over here!" She yelled. I quickly ran towards her and bowed.

"I'm really sorry I'm late! I was busy talking with Hitsugaya and-"

"I didn't ask for an apology or reason with the apology, but thanks for it. Besides we need to start on your sword practice. Hopefully, we can get some hand-to-hand combat in the lesson too."

I glanced at her feet. "Are you sure….?"

"Mm?" She then noticed what I was looking at and she laughed. "Please, this is NOTHING compared to what I felt."

Then she leaned in with a smirk on her face. "Have you ever felt the pain and delight of…."

She whispered something in my ear and my face went so red, you would think it was a shiny apple.

"Y-Y-Yoruichi?" I stumbled back and she laughed.

"Oh, it seems you're too naïve. I didn't think you people in Seireitei were so…what's the word…well-rounded."

"E-Excuse me? I really didn't want to hear about that kind of thing!"

"Oh? Come now. I bet you've done it once in your life!"

"Do I look married or anything like that?"

"You don't have to be married…"

"WHO CARES?"

She laughed again and patted my head. "It's ok, Hikari. You'll feel it one day."

I shivered and stood up. "Yeah…."

Then I began to rethink about that. I was pretty sure she wasn't married or anything….so I wonder if she…..ugh, forget it. I'd rather not know. Yoruichi threw me a wooden sword and took a stance.

"Ready?"

I gripped onto the hilt and fixed a strong stance. I nodded and at that moment, she lunged towards me.

For about 2 hours, we did quick sparring matches but I felt like I was still not making progress, even with Yoruichi's hawk-eye detections of my mistakes. She sighed and said that all I needed was practice. She dropped the wooden blade and took a fighting stance.

"I want you to try and punch me." She said. "Give me all you got."

I blinked with surprise but did as I was told. I dropped the sword and ran towards her. I made a tight fist and tried to punch her. To my surprise, she grabbed my fist and as my body continued to move towards her, she prepared her punch. I felt something strike my gut as I fell to the ground, coughing. Yoruichi returned to normal and crossed her arms.

"So, that's it? That's all you could do? I did say give me all you got and that pathetic move was all you could do?"

I glared at her. Since when did she turn into seriously strict and scary teacher? Then I remembered that she was the leader of the hand-to-hand combat group. She smirked and gave me her hand.

"Lets' try that again, shall we?" She said. I smiled and took her hand. Instead of helping me up, she shifted her feet and flipped me, landing me on my back. I winced with pain.

"Ow…." Was all I could say as I remember Hitsugaya's flip.

"Hm, lets' try that again." She held her hand out to me again. Knowing she was probably going to flip me again, I kicked her hand away and rolled away. I quickly stood up and made a random fighting stance. She nodded with approval until she noticed my stance.

"Tsk, tsk, that stance will never hold." She walked over and tried to kick me in the face. I dodged but then I saw her try to side-sweep my legs. I jumped back but lost my footing and fell. Yoruichi crossed her arms again.

"We have some practice to do."

For 2 more hours, we practiced hand-to-hand combat until I was lying on the ground, taking deep breaths.

"Ugh…I haven't felt this tired since I joined the military…." I murmured painfully. I heard Yoruichi sigh.

"Well, it's all about practice. If you don't do the practice, well….you won't get anywhere in life. Come by to the training fields tomorrow and I can get you a partner to pair up with and we can get you all set."

"Actually…I'm really thinking of practicing with the sword all of tomorrow with Rukia."

She cocked her head for a moment, then straightened and smiled. "Alright. But I'm going to go all out on you tomorrow night."

When I noticed the smirk, is shivered. One because she was going to beat me so badly and I'm going to be on the ground, my entire body in pain and two….how she phrased it sounded awkward.

I slowly stood up, with the help of Nemu, and walked back to Hinamori's place. When I opened the door, I noticed that Karin and Yuzu were still awake.

"What are you two kids still doing awake?" I asked.

"We heard you were training with Ms. Yoruichi and thought you might need our assistance in bringing you to bed! Or maybe you needed some wounds healing!" Yuzu said. I smiled.

"Thank you…but I'm ok. Really." I staggered to my room and closed the door.

The next day, I heard murmurs from outside my doorway. I couldn't recognize it so I slightly opened the door to hear.

"Do you think she's alright?" I heard Yuzu say. "I'm worried about her…and as a nurse, I think we should make sure."

"Yuzu," Karin's voice came through. "If she doesn't need the medical care, then she doesn't need it. She said she was alright and she wasn't badly wounded."

"But she was staggering to her room! Maybe something was wrong with her legs…"

"Look, when she needs to medical care, she'll simply ask for it."

"What if she has a sore throat?"

"Yuzu!"

There was a brief silence until I heard footsteps.

"What are you two arguing about?" It was Hinamori.

"Nothing." Yuzu and Karin said in unison.

"Well then, I need some help in the garden. Want to come with me?"

There was another brief silence until I heard the footsteps walking farther away from the door. When I didn't hear anything more, I opened the door fully and walked out. My left leg still was aching pretty badly, but it wasn't enough to stop me from walking, er, staggering. As I walked out the door, I walked towards the training fields. When I arrived, I noticed that Ichigo was talking to Rukia. Of course, I was an expert eavesdropper, so I quickly hid behind one of the large dummies.

"What's wrong, Rukia?" Ichigo asked.

"Sigh…nothing. I'm alright. I'm worried about Kaori, though."

"Kaori?" Ichigo cocked his head.

"You know…the girl that's been walking around the training fields….the one who's been training with Yoruichi….THE ONE WHO KEEPS LOOKING AT YOU DURING YOUR ARCHERY PRACTICE!"

Well, didn't that say something about why Rukia doesn't like me that much?

"Oh, I know who you're talking about." Ichigo replied. "What about her though? There isn't much to worry about. She's practically helpless."

"Uh, Ichigo, there is a problem. She's probably still part of the Imperial Army. If she returns back to Seireitei in the spring, she'll probably tell Aizen about it and then BOOM we're screwed!"

"Rukia, Rukia, chill out." Ichigo said, placing his hand on her head. "Aizen won't know what hit him. And she's not going to tell on us. Besides, even if she tried, we'd kill her before she could."

"Whatever. I still don't trust that b*tch."

"It's not the end of the world with her around us. She may teach you a few things about the outside world."

"Outside world? Excuse me; I know a lot about it!"

"BS."

They continued to argue for another minute until they finally returned back to their own training areas. Well, at least Ichigo did. Suddenly, Rukia took a wooden blade and threw it towards where I was hiding. I squealed at the surprise attack as I ducked.

"If you're going to eavesdrop, then try learning it from Soifon-san." She said as she walked over to where I was. I got up and threw the sword towards her, keeping a neutral face on. She caught the sword and pointed it at me.

"Pick up a wooden sword and lets' spar."

I slowly picked up the wooden sword in the holder and took my stance.

"I'm ready." I thought and lunged towards her.

As the day quickly passed, I had lost each sparring matches with Rukia. D*nm that's not good.

Rukia smirked and patted my shoulder.

"Don't worry, Kaori. You'll get it….after years of practice." She then walked off, chuckling to herself. I painfully walked past the archery field and the hand-to-hand combat field. Unfortunately, it was hard to go through the training field. Why you may ask? Well, when you have this crazy, obsessed girl who likes Yoruichi too much tries to come and get me so that I could practice with her…or in other words beat my a** in front of everyone….it can get really difficult. You had to literally be a ninja to get pass. Another unfortunate problem with that is that Soifon was literally a ninja! Even with Nemu walking behind me, I assumed she was on Soifon's side because Nemu didn't say anything throughout the entire thing. But I guess it was my lucky day since I arrived at Hitsugaya's house without getting punched in the face or kicked in the gut.

Once inside, I noticed that Hitsugaya was writing on something. I eased my way beside the sitting white haired kid.

"Whatcha writing?" I asked with Hitsugaya responded with a sigh and putting his brush away.

"Nothing. Just some paperwork that leaders have to deal with."

"Poor you." I gave him my hand. "Wanna walk? Yesterday was really nice and since it's also a good day out…"

He didn't say anything but he stood up. "Honestly, I would actually like that. Unfortunately, I'm going to have a meeting with the three leaders."

"Wait….three? I thought the Kurosaki's were the only leaders since Rukia is your right hand and Ichigo is your…uh…technically left hand."

"Yes, those two are leaders. Rukia is the leader of the sword combat, Ichigo is the leader of archery combat, and Yoruichi is the leader of the hand-to-hand combat."

"But Yoruichi said she doesn't want to be the leader or anything….UGH! This whole thing is so confusing!"

He sighed. "I'll explain this as simply as I can so your head can actually get it.

"Rukia and Ichigo are technically my advisors. Originally, I wanted Yoruichi to be my advisor instead of Ichigo-"

"Ichigo? Wait, I thought it was Rukia…."

"No…it was Ichigo. As I was saying, Yoruichi didn't want to be my advisor for whatever reason and so I chose Ichigo out of Rukia saying he would be best fit. To be honest, he's pretty good except I wonder about his manners...Anyways, when I created the mastery squads; I found out that there were three squads instead of two. My advisors and I talked about that and we chose Yoruichi to be the leader of the third squad, as to which she reluctantly agreed."

"So she didn't want to be an advisor…yet she wanted to be a squad leader?"

"I wouldn't say 'wanted' but yeah, that's the general concept. Now if you would excuse me…I have things to finish."

"Sure thing…" I moved to the side and he walked out the door. Out of curiosity, I explored the room. Scrolls and files filled the cabinets, books were neatly kept on the countertops, and his desk had a clean scroll prepared with ink and brush. Then I noticed something under his small table. I grabbed it and I noticed it was a journal. I looked around and wondered if it was ok for me to read it….well….it won't kill me or anything. I sat on the cushion and opened the journal.

_December 20, XXXX_

_Today is my birthday and my coronation as leader of the shinigami. I am only 16 and yet they say I am strong enough to be leader. The previous leader, Lord Ukitake, says that I will be a fine leader. I feel bad for him; he has been sick for months and his illness has not let up but instead gotten worse. But why me? I am a shinigami, but am I really that strong to take the up the title Lord Hitsugaya? Hinamori is happy, but I sense something else…like a deep, sad emotion swirling under her cheerful mask she puts on just for me. When I walk down the dirt pathway to practice, I hear murmurs and whispers. Something like "Oh, he's going to be our Lord?" "Yeah, isn't he such a prodigy?" "Hmph, I bet he just got chosen cause of his relationship to Lord Ukitake." People say that I'm related to Lord Ukitake because he took me and Hinamori in when we were children, escaping the busy streets of Seireitei when our parents were arrested for stealing food for us. When we arrived to Rukongai, he gave us his old home and gave us a proper education. When I was 10, Lord Ukitake gave me a chance to become a shinigami, and I took it. Hinamori decided to stay at the house, cleaning and cooking like a housewife. She says she doesn't mind and that she enjoys her time with the other villagers. _

_I guess a good thing to all of this is that I will be able to protect not only the villagers and shinigami, but Hinamori. Since we were kids, I made an oath to protect Hinamori with my life. When I was a shinigami, I trained hard to keep that oath. Now that I'm going to be the leader, my hard work will have paid off…._

_I must go…Hinamori is calling me to get ready. I will write as soon as I can._

_Toushiro_

I flipped a few pages from that entry and read it.

_January 20, XXXX_

_Rain falls from the ceiling, as if the Gods are crying. Why do I say that? It is because a horrible tragedy has befallen on Rukongai as the previous leader, Lord Ukitake, died early this morning… I ordered a proper funeral but I doubt that I even had to order it. Many people from around Rukongai arrived to the funeral, wearing black clothing while bringing flowers of all kind. _

_The one who cried to most was Rukia…If I remember correctly, Lord Ukitake also took her in and gave her a home with Orihime Inoue. He also gave her the chance to be the one of the few female shinigami. At first, everyone made fun of her but as the months continued, they turned to respect her. What is more interesting, I've seen Rukia going to train with Lord Ukitake himself. I have done that before, but not as much as Rukia. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but I can see how very close she was to Lord Ukitake. _

_I should be thankful that Lord Ukitake had showed me everything he knows about being a leader and such these past weeks….but now that he is gone, it feels very empty in this large house. When I had asked Hinamori if she wanted to live with me, she declined it, saying "This has too many memories for me to leave it. Besides, this is what Lord Ukitake gave us, and I don't want to just leave it." It is strange how I am not allowed to sleep in my old home….well, whatever the reason may be, I guess it doesn't matter anymore. Tomorrow, I will be very busy. The only thing I can do is hope that Lord Ukitake is watching us from wherever his soul went to. _

_Toushiro_

I slowly closed the journal and returned it under the table. I sat there, looking out into the garden. Hitsugaya had a harder past then I thought…Then, I tried to remember what day it was. Since I had no clue, I creaked open the door and turned my head. Nemu was waiting at the entranceway of the house. Quickly, I grabbed my shoes from beside the door and went outside to meet with Nemu.

"Nemu…what's today?"

"Hm…I would have to say…December…hm…..18th?"

"Oh, ok…"

As we started walking away from Hitsugaya's compound, I wondered about what Lord Ukitake looked like and since he sounded like a nice guy from Hitsugaya's diary, that meant that I already knew about his personality. My guess was that Hinamori had a picture of him somewhere in the house, so once I arrived at her compound, I made my way to the garden. Yuzu and Karin were there, but Hinamori wasn't.

"Do you guys know where Hinamori is?" I asked.

"Oh, she went to do some laundry. I think she's inside." Yuzu said.

"By the way, what are you guys planting in the garden? It's winter…."

"Even if it's winter," Karin started. "We can still plant some vegetables…just not rice. That's why the rice fields are totally empty."

I nodded and quickly went inside the house. It was, once again, quiet inside. Though, I had a feeling there was someone here so I wandered the house. When I reached the last room of the house, I heard murmurs. It sounded like prayer…

Quietly, I opened the door and I saw Hinamori praying in front of a picture of a man. The man had long, white hair and was smiling. Candles were placed beside the picture and a shrine was under it. Deciding not to disturb her, I stepped back and slowly closed the door, walking away from it as quietly as possible.

Since Yoruichi, Rukia, and Ichigo were going to be in a meeting and Hinamori was in total prayer mode, I was now officially bored. When I got outside, it started to rain. At first, I was surprised, but then I remembered the dark clouds moving in through the sky this morning. I sat under the porch as I watched little kids running through the rain, trying to find a dry shelter. Karin and Yuzu had already stepped into the porch but they were completely drenched.

"Ugh, I'm going to get sick later today." Karin murmured in disgust.

"Well, at least the garden will get some refreshing water tonight." Yuzu said cheerfully but sneezing afterwards.

"You two should go inside." I said.

"It's dry under here and besides, it's nice watching the rain…" Yuzu said. "Unless there's thunder and lightning."

I gave a small laugh. "Whenever there was thunder and lightning, my friend would say that the Gods were fighting over something and the thunder was the sound of crashing and lightning was the weapon they used. When lightning hits the ground, it meant that one of the Gods missed and landed on earth by accident."

For the first time since I met her, I heard Karin laugh. "That's a pretty cool myth. It's better than some of the other kid's myths."

Yuzu nodded. "From now on, I'm going to believe that myth. It's a little scary though….that the Gods is fighting….but it's more believable then the others."

I smiled. "The next time I see my friend again, I'll tell her what you guys said. She'll be happy to hear that since no one believes her." I added a laugh. "Then again, some of the stuff she says is pretty out there."

"Since it's raining and all," Karin said. "Do you mind telling us some stories? Hey, if you don't want to, then you don't have to."

I shook my head. "It's ok. Now, let me tell this one time when my friend and I were going shopping…"

As I told them about some wacky stories about me and Rangiku, they seemed to be very intrigued by all of this. I never knew Rangiku's idiocy would come in handy one day.

My stories soon made them tired and since I saw a quick glimpse of the moon from behind the clouds, I assumed it was already night time. I carried the two sleeping girls back into their rooms and once I closed their door, I smelled something delicious. Was it fried fish, teriyaki chicken, or sashimi? I walked into the small dining room and I saw Hinamori placing a bowl of freshly cooked udon, topped with tempura shrimp, fried rice, and what I guessed what Rukongai's version of fried chicken. I noticed that there was an added table, and there were 6 plates and bowls.

"Are we having a lot of guests?" I asked. Hinamori stood and nodded.

"Yes. After the meeting, the Leaders are coming here to eat. I had already invited them over yesterday."

"Wow, you really went over the top with the delicious looking cuisine. I've never seen this kind of cooking in Seireitei."

"What do they cook there?"

"Nothing that looks THIS good, that's for sure!"

Hinamori laughed. "I at least hope the taste will be better than how it looks."

I smiled and followed her to the kitchen. "Do you need help?"

"Oh, no, thank you….In Rukongai, the host prepares the food and such. Since you are still a guest, it would be rude for you to do something."

Shaking my head, I grabbed the small cups. "Please, don't treat me as a guest. I've been treated like that for too long. I would like to be helpful to someone for once."

I put the cups on the table as Hinamori placed the pitcher of water in the middle.

"What do you mean….that you've been treated like a guest…for a long time?"

"….I was born into a strong military family. Each member had a high rank in the military, whether it's general, captain, colonel….stuff like that which I'm pretty sure you don't use here in Rukongai. Ahem, anyways, I was always busy training and such, that when I arrive at home, I was a spoiled brat who relied on my servants to do my biding. I was never taught how to wash the dishes properly, clean the house, simple chores that most children learn at a young age. Instead of simple household things like that, my parents taught me military tactics and weapons. Actually…..my entire education was military related, with simple mathematics and Japanese. Everything else was….different…I even experienced what death looked like, when I went into the battlefield at 18."

"You were very young."

"I was…." I stood up. "If you need more help, I'm going to be in my room. I think I should change into something more….fitting."

She smiled. "I should too."

A few hours past until I heard a knock on the door. I quickly tied the silver sash and opened the sliding door. Rukia, Ichigo, Yoruichi, and Hitsugaya were waiting by the door.

"Hey, Hikari." Yoruichi said. I smiled.

"Good evening, Yoruichi and to you three as well."

Rukia and Hitsugaya gave a curt nod while Ichigo seemed to be daydreaming. I showed them inside and into the dining room. Hinamori was already waiting, and when we came, she bowed.

"It's good to have the leaders into my house. Please, have a seat."

"You're too uptight, Momo." Ichigo said. I looked at Ichigo. Did he just call Hinamori…Momo? Ichigo noticed my awkward look at him and he shrugged.

"That's Hinamori's first name. I'm one of the few people who call her by her first name. It's easier to remember."

"You have such horrible memory, Ichigo." Rukia said and took a seat. Ichigo sat next to her, shoving the statement off. I sat next to Yoruichi and Hitsugaya and Hinamori took the front seats *in other words, Ichigo, Rukia, Hikari, and Yoruichi are sitting on the sides. Hitsugaya and Hinamori took the "front and back" seats*.

"Let's eat!" Yoruichi said, grabbed the chopsticks, and started picking the food. The rest of us grabbed our chopsticks and grabbed what we wanted. As we ate and talked, I noticed that Hitsugaya was eating very little and didn't talk through our conversations. After eating, Hinamori went to the kitchen to get the desert. When she had left, it suddenly got quiet which surprised me greatly.

"I'm going to help Hinamori." I said, got up, and walked into the kitchen. Hinamori was putting the final ingredient on whatever she had on the plate. She saw me come in and gave me a smile.

"I've never made this before but a few of the villagers said it was delicious. I even tried it myself. It's steamed cake with sweet bean filling. I hope I made it correctly."

I returned the smile and walked beside her. "It looks delicious. By the way, the dinner was perfect!"

She blushed. "Thank you…" Then, as if she remembered something, she turned to look at me. "Can you go and get the sake in that small trunk over there?"

"Wow, sake and cake for dessert?" I laughed. "Reminds me too much of my friend back in Seireitei…"

I opened the trunk and saw a few bottles of sake. I grabbed them and helped Hinamori into the dining room. The room, except for Hitsugaya, was filled with talking once again. When Yoruichi saw the sake bottles, she smirked.

"Hey, Hinamori, you know me too well!"

"Great, now we're sure the party is about to begin." Ichigo mumbled with disgust.

"Don't think I didn't hear that, Mr. Kurosaki." Yoruichi replied. Once the cake was placed on the table, we took one and tried it.

"Good work, Hinamori." Rukia said. "It has a nice taste to it."

"Yeah." Ichigo agreed. Hitsugaya, who had taken one as well, nodded with approval. Yoruichi, who by this time already got a few bottles in, gave thumbs up. Hinamori flushed and did a small head bow.

"I'm glad you guys…like it."

Later, I noticed that Hitsugaya excused himself from the table. Now's my chance to…INVESTIGATE! I excuse myself from the table and followed Hitsugaya outside. When I found myself outside, I found him sitting under the porch, staring at the falling rain. I slowly walked towards him.

"Hey." I said, trying to somehow make a conversation with this anti-social person. He turned his head to look at me, then turned back to look at the rain. Of course, he didn't respond. I sighed and sat down next to him.

"You've been quiet during dinner. This may sound totally stupid since I'm a complete stranger to you and to your eyes, an enemy, but I'm not a fool when it comes to noticing something is wrong. If it's not my place to ask, then there's no need for you to answer…"

"It's nothing. Thank you for your concern."

"….Ok. But is it fine if I sit with you? I won't ask anything."

He didn't respond, but he didn't move either so I assumed it was his form of "yes." As I watched the rain fall, I began to remember my time in Seireitei. The loud noises of men and women going to work, kids running down the busy streets, houses and stores filled the sidewalks, it was busy, day or night, sunlight or rain. Yet I never got to do those kinds of things. "There's no time for that." Mother would say or "You're not like them. You're a different breed. You're a warrior." Now, I find that hilarious. I'm no different to anyone in Soul Society. For 16 years, I was taught how to fight. When I joined the military at a young age of 17, I met Rangiku Matsumoto. She was 3 years older than me, but there were many times that she acted like a 13 year old. But my entire train of thought changed at 18, when I saw what real killing was like. I turned my head to look at Hitsugaya. I began to wonder if Hitsugaya experienced the horror of killing a person at a young age. I wondered if he was a different person before then….

Hitsugaya continued to stare through the rainy evening, as if he was in a deep trance. I bet if someone tried to knock him over, he wouldn't realize it until 10 seconds later. Suddenly, I heard one of the doors open. I turned my head and noticed it was Yuzu. She rubbed her eyes and walked towards me.

"I didn't know you woke up, Yuzu." I said. She gave me a small smile.

"Karin woke up first. I think she's changing out of the wet clothes. I woke up through the rain. It's getting harder…"

"That means the Gods are arguing even louder." I said, shaking the girl's hair. "Don't worry, tomorrow, they should have settled their differences. Most enemies do. I think you should go and change yourself. Hinamori won't give you two dinner if you're all wet."

"Ok." Then, when she finally realized that Hitsugaya was there, she jumped. "O-Oh, Lord Hitsugaya, I didn't know you were here."

"It's ok, Yuzu." He said. "I suggest listening to her. Hinamori doesn't want people who are drenched to eat in her dining room."

She nodded and walked back into her room. After a brief silence, I sighed. The one thing I forgot before putting those girls to bed was changing them out of those wet garments. Now THAT is going to increase their chances of getting sick. I'm so stupid. Speaking of sickness….I wondered about that other guy, Lord Ukitake, who died of his illness. It was a topic that I knew Hitsugaya probably didn't want to talk about, especially since I was supposedly their enemy. It's normal not to open up, I guess. Wait, then again, I opened up to him, and he's supposedly my enemy. Does that mean we're not enemies? Ugh, this is driving me bananas!

"How far have you gotten with your sword training?" Hitsugaya suddenly said. It was a random topic, but I guess it was better than complete silence the entire time.

"It's been ok. Rukia keeps on kicking my butt though. Then again, she IS the leader of the sword squad or whatever."

"Are you still training with Ms. Yoruichi?"

"Yeah, I am…But she's pretty serious when it comes to hand-to-hand combat." I rolled up my kimono sleeve, showing a purple spot on my upper arm. "I still have some bruises from last time; this is just one of them." I sighed. "Thankfully, I've felt far worse…"

"Are you sure it's 'thankfully'?"

"….." Flashbacks of me on the battlefield with the arrancars flashed in my brain. Suddenly, I felt a pain in my chest, like the one I felt when I was fighting those arrancars. "Yes….I have felt far worse……" I slowly crossed my arms around my chest and closed my eyes, trying not to remember the dead bodies, pools of blood, and the firing of guns from both sides.

Then, I felt something wrap around my back. I opened my eyes and noticed it was what Hitsugaya wore over the normal shinigami uniform, which I guessed was what the leader wore. I turned my head and noticed that Hitsugaya was still staring at the rain.

"Whatever you experienced, you can tell me when you're ready. But I can now see that both of us had some hard times in our lives." He looked up. "Just don't let those memories distract you from your training."

I touched the side of the haori and smiled. "Thanks."

On December 20th, Hitsugaya's birthday, I decided to make something for the midget leader. The problem was what to make for him. Even if I could buy something, I didn't even know what he likes! So, to see what he might like, I knocked on Hinamori's door.

"Um…Hinamori….? I need to ask you a question…."

"You can come in." I heard her say from inside; so I opened the door and noticed that she was busy writing something.

"Do you know what Hitsugaya likes?" I asked. Hinamori put down the brush and turned around. She put her hand on her cheek and looked up, like she was thinking.

"Well, I'm writing him a birthday scroll. The thing is that he likes watermelons, but those are out of season but he does like amanatto."

"Ama….wha?"

"Amanatto. Do you not have that in Seireitei?"

"I think we do, it's just I've never heard of it."

Hinamori laughed and stood up. "I'll show you how to make it."

"Wait, if you know he likes, um, amanatto…shouldn't you make that for him?"

"Oh, I made that last year! So I'm making a card this year!"

"Well that's sweet."

We went into the kitchen and Hinamori took out various types of beans, sugar, a pan, sugar syrup, and a plate. Then, she instructed me on how to cook it. It was hard at first, and I felt like I didn't cook it right until the very end. But Hinamori nodded with satisfaction when I placed the amanatto on the plate.

"It looks great!" Hinamori exclaimed. "I told you to make an extra one so that you can taste it."

Technically, I had made an extra two by mistake so I handed on to Hinamori and took one for myself. We both took a bite and it actually tasted really sweet and good. I saw Hinamori smile and gave me thumbs up. Then, I put the amanatto into a small bag and tied it with a ribbon.

Before I could leave, Hinamori handed me her birthday scroll, saying that this was a gift from her. Though I wondered why she didn't want to give it to him personally, I guess that didn't matter. I nodded, took the scroll, and walked to Hitsugaya's place. As I walked, I noticed it was slightly snowing. Oh how I hate the snow. That's the one weather I do not like. I like sun and rain but snow…not so much. My pace quickened when I then noticed that the training fields were empty.

"I wonder why the place is empty…" I thought.

"When it's going to snow, the shinigami take the time to rest. Of course, we have to go through over time when the snow has subsided." I heard Nemu say from behind me. Good gracious, does she like, read people's mind? I didn't respond and continued walking.

The snow got heavier as I reached the compound. I quickly entered the porch, took off my shoes, and knocked on the door.

"You better answer!" I thought as I shivered from the cold air rushing through the village. Hitsugaya opened the door. "Kaori, what are you doing here?"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" He blinked a few times from surprise as I handed him Hinamori and I's gift. "Th…Thanks. It's sorta cold, want to come inside?" He took the presents as I nodded and walked inside. There were books and scrolls on his desk.

"What's all this? It's your birthday! No offense, but you should be having fun!"

"You sound like we're 10. Look, I'm 26 now and it doesn't change the fact that I'm busy. Besides, why should you care?"

"Well, I mean, even though I've only known you for less than a month, you've actually helped me think better. Also, I realize that…if you never came during the time we first fought, I would have died by Rukia. So I had a lot of owe you, even IF you're….actually…." I looked down. "I don't want to say we're enemies. I think the better word would be…acquaintances, wouldn't you say?"

He shrugged and sat behind his desk. He first opened the scroll and started reading it. While he did so, I took a seat in front of his desk. I saw a small smile come across his face as he slowly rolled the scroll up and put it inside his desk cabinet. Then, he turned his attention to the small bag. When he opened it, his eyes widened.

"It's…amanatto…." He murmured and looked up at me. "How do you know that I liked amanatto?"

"Mm, just a lucky guess."

He took one out and ate it. "Hm, it's actually really good."

"Eh? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I assumed that you made it. Actually, I'm surprised you learned how to make it."

I scoffed and turned my head away. "Whatever."

There was a strange silence afterwards; feeling totally uncomfortable in the silence, I decided to break it.

"I know you said that your birthday doesn't matter, it's just a day that officially makes you older and you're always busy….but hasn't there been a birthday that you and a group of your closest friends just came together and hung out?"

He sighed. "Yeah…when I was 16. That was the last time I actually had 'a birthday that a group of my closest friends just came together and hung out.'"

"Well, guess what? 10 years later, you're going to have the same thing!"

I could feel a sense of confusion and surprise radiating from Hitsugaya so I explained.

"In other words, I'm going to get you, Hinamori, and a few of your other friends-"

"The last person that was in the group of closest friends would be Lord Ukitake….but he's gone now." He slowly stood up. "Thank you for giving me these. Tell Hinamori that her letter was nice."

"Hey, hey, it's your birthday. We should celebrate as such."

"How about you stay out of my personal business?"

Before he could open the door, I placed my hand on it. He gave me this cold glare, but I returned it with my own glare

* * *

End of Part 1

I'm sorry guys, but I couldn't finish the whole thing. Dx You see, I'm busy with other stories and it's hard to finish this one. So, I'm going to split up the story into around 3 parts! I hope that's ok. Each part will be around this long (cough, cough, 16,000 words). Anyways, I hope you enjoy it!


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